Skip to content | Skip to institutional links

Common menu bar links

Institutional links

News
- The Daily
- News feeds (RSS)
Find statistics
Find studies
- Analytical studies
Understanding statistics
Special interest
Other information
Proactive Disclosure

Proactive Disclosure

Page content follows

Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS) 2001

Aboriginal Surveys > Aboriginal Peoples Survey>

Overview
Questionnaires
Analytical work
Data files

Overview

In its response to the Royal Commission final report, the federal government through its Aboriginal Action Plan "Gathering Strength", mandated Statistics Canada to carry out a second Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS) following the 2001 Census. Having had the opportunity to conduct the first Aboriginal Peoples Survey, in 1991, Statistics Canada, in cooperation with the Aboriginal community has continued to build upon this experience.

The first phase of the 2001 APS consisted of formal consultations, which were carried out with three main groups of stakeholders and completed on April 30, 1999. These stakeholders included:

Aboriginal groups, communities and organizations
Federal departments
Provincial and Territorial governments

The next phase of the survey involved the formation of an "Implementation committee" which was formed to provide direct and ongoing input from the Aboriginal community and other stakeholders. Committee members include representatives from the national Aboriginal organizations (Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Métis National Council, Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, Native Women's Association of Canada, and the National Association of Friendship Centres), two federal departments, a provincial representative, and Statistics Canada.

The role of the committee included reviewing the results of the consultations, making decisions concerning the content of the survey, availability of geographic areas, testing strategies, and output formats. This strategy is a notable departure from the process directing the Aboriginal Peoples Survey of 1991.

Another significant change was the introduction of a set of questionnaires designed to collect information on specific segments of the Aboriginal population. The 2001 APS consisted of the following questionnaires:

an adult "core" portion, which was administered to all Aboriginal participants 15 years and over;
a Métis supplement, developed jointly with the Métis National Council, which was administered only to the Aboriginal adult population (15 years and over) who self-identified as Métis and/or who had Métis ancestry. This portion of the survey was not conducted on-reserve or in Inuit communities;
an Arctic supplement. Known as the Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic (SLiCA), this was developed jointly with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, Makivik Corporation, the Labrador Inuit Association, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and Laval University, and was administered to the Aboriginal adult population (15 years and over) residing in Inuit communities;
a Children and Youth questionnaire, which was directed at Aboriginal children and youth (0 – 14), residing on and off reserve. The person most knowledgeable about the child/youth answered the questionnaire on their behalf.

The 2001 APS was conducted in the fall of 2001 through the spring of 2002. For information about the concepts and methods used in the survey, consult Aboriginal Peoples Survey 2001: Concepts and Methods Guide. This publication also includes technical details on sampling, processing and data quality. Further, the guide explains the relationship between APS and the 2001 Census and cautions users as to important differences in the data produced from the two sources.